31 May 2011

An orrery is a clockwork model of the solar system. Kepler is a space observatory searching for exoplanets in the region of Cygnus. So far it has done better than expected, finding 1235 possible planets around 997 stars. The Kepler orrery by Daniel Fabrycky is an animation of those newly discovered systems. Follow the link to make the planets spin round.

27 May 2011

26 May 2011

25 May 2011

Today marks the 50th anniversary of JFK's announcement to Congress that the US intended to put a man on the moon. This was an expensive and dangerous proposition, and the Americans didn't see the point of it until September 12,1962, when in his prepared speech to Rice University in Houston he pencilled in, "Why does Rice play Texas?" This won over the overheated crowd, and he went on to deliver the more famous line, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard."

24 May 2011

Genshiken volume 10 is out in Japan, containing chapters 56 to probably 61. Shoppers in Akihabara can score limited edition postcards, though to get all of them you have to go to ten different stores or, as Madarame would do, organize your friends. The display at Melon Books:

You can see all ten cards here and here. I'm going to go against popular opinion and say that the one with Sue as a shrine maiden is my favourite.

I'm always pleasantly surprised to see the extent to which signage made in-store with markers and bristol board continues in Japanese bookstores. The last place I saw that mechandising strategy used here was at Sam the Record Man.

Kyoto Seika University has a Faculty of Manga! You can also study art, architectural design and traditional Japanese crafts at Kyoto Seika. On the chart of all possible universities this one is in my ideal corner. You can view year after year of the university's graduate exhibitions here. The Kyoto International Manga Museum, housed in the former elementary school, is an offshoot of the university. D